"Does this look too purple?"
The Emperor of the Ars Goetia and Lord Protector of the Underworld, Lucifer Morningstar, first in his name, discusses the mundanities of colour choices with his assistant. Tens of people marching down the hallways of the Imperial Palace, ones which his ornately decorated quarters open up into. Ever since the sovereign calling of a meeting of the Goetian Assembly, it has never been quiet within the Palace, yet Lucifer still finds time to be practically alone. The aforementioned assistant by his side, a rather diminutive looking imp, squints, checking the fabric of Lucifer's ceremonial mantle wrapped around his neck and shoulders. "It looks fine, my liege."
Lucifer grumbles, picking it up and holding it to the light. "Mmh, I don't know, Cornelius… I want to wear something that evokes purple without it being purple. Perhaps a bit redder, or perhaps…"
"Pink, my liege?"
He lets out a reserved chuckle. "That would be nice, actually. That one that's pink with white and gold detailing… I wouldn't mind that one."
Cornelius nodded feverishly, bowing to his superior. "Yes, my liege, right away!" He sprinted off, small hooves tapping against the marble flooring.
Amidst the light, pastel colours in the bedroom, sharply contrasted with gold and dark pink, a new body appears out of the crowds in the hallway, one with a much greener character to his visage and clothing. The spymaster, Seviathan von Eldritch, has arrived, a satchel strapped to his shoulder. He hurried towards Lucifer, almost as quickly as Cornelius was running away. He stopped after a few feet, got down to his knees, and kowtowed to the Emperor. "My liege."
Lucifer looked down, grinning a bit. "Oh, relax, Sev, I'm not in full ceremony mode yet. Rise." He moved his hand in a gesture, first lower to the ground, then, with his palm facing up, raising the hand, a symbolic movement to follow his command.
Seviathan did as he was commanded, stepping up from his knees and standing himself. "Thank you, my liege." He cautiously looked towards Cornelius before leaning in and whispering to his superior. "The reports are concerning. May I speak to you in private?"
Lucifer straightened his expression out for a moment, glancing around, before nodding. "Of course. Cornelius?"
The imp was bringing him a mantle that would look comically gaudy to anyone not used to formality. "Yes, my liege!" He lowered his head for a moment, handing him the fabric.
The sovereign tossed the slightly purple mantle aside, right into the imp's face, before wrapping the pink around himself. "Thank you, Cornelius… if you could leave us two, we need to discuss matters of state."
The imp bowed, ran out into the hallway, and without hesitation closed the doors leading out into the public.
Seviathan cleared his throat, opening the satchel up and handing the Emperor some papers. "I didn't shred these copies because I figured you'd be interested. It's about the grimoire."
Lucifer nodded. "Of course it's about the grimoire. Anything new since we started suppressing this?"
The spymaster shook his head softly, swallowing a bit. "No… but that's what concerns me."
The monarch rose an eyebrow. "How so?"
"I mean… these are books of power, my liege. If one is truly in the living world, then you'd expect there to be… at least an investigation? I'm not seeing any of that."
A small pause before Lucifer softly exhaled. "It is fairly odd… though if you're thinking it's a failure on my part, I would suggest you quash that notion."
Seviathan crossed his arms, leaning against a nearby wall and furrowing his eyebrows. "…I didn't mean to suggest anything like that, my liege, I…" He slowly ran his fingers through his slicked back hair. "I suppose I'm more looking for an explanation?"
A reserved smile. "Of course… well, the truth of the matter is that the only grimoire that falls under my purview is my own. In fact, if I launched an investigation about this particular one, they might see me as overreaching. It is solely the responsibility of the Ars Goetia to investigate any wrongdoings within their ranks, to secure their own grimoires, and to ensure their grimoires don't fall into the wrong hands. They keep each other in check, you see."
"Yet you destroy the evidence that would allow them to secure the missing grimoire."
Lucifer rose an eyebrow, glancing at a couple of lines in one of the papers. "…the Vigiles raided their headquarters?"
Seviathan was taken slightly aback by the pivoting of the conversation, but he gathered his bearings after a few seconds and nodded. "They did. What's more interesting, my liege, is that the Vigiles both knew the grimoire was there and, when it was assumed by these imps that the grimoire had left Hell, the Vigiles immediately ended their search."
"…as if they were attuned to it…" The monarch pursed his lips, looking over to his spymaster. "I need to speak with the Vigiles, specifically the Stolas regiment."
"Right now, sir? It's only a couple of hours until the Assembly meets."
"I am aware. Get me my grimoire."
Four humans staring at the drone feed, Gamma with a remote control in his hand, steering it expertly. The vast emptiness of the Wrath Ring was all too apparent, floating tumbleweeds, harsh winds, dusty soil. Desolate nature was punctuated only by signs of habitation. Roads, street signs, houses… farms. An unusual Hell. Gamma piped up. "It ain't fire and brimstone… but it's still a bummer."
Alpha, looking to the horizon, and then back to the screen, grumbled a bit. "Doesn't look too different from things stateside. Most notable difference is the sky."
Beta was crouched next to Gamma, digging bits of ground and collecting it into a plastic bag. "I can already tell the soil quality's pretty bad. It's-" He sputters a bit, coughing as a bit of dust kicks up. "…dry. I don't know how anything grows down here."
The drone flies up, more and more of the landscape being revealed. More houses, more roads… "…wait." Gamma interjected. "Wait, hold up, what's that over there?"
Alpha and Beta huddled to look at the screen. Movement. Specifically a van driving down the road. Delta opted instead to stand guard, cigarette in his mouth.
Beta pointed at the vehicle. "Is that thing coming this way?"
Alpha responded by flicking the safety off of his gun, pointing it at the general direction of the road and crouching down behind some shrubs. "How far?" Delta quietly followed, getting onto the ground.
Gamma rose an eyebrow. "…oh, yeah, the van. Shit, uh… as long as it stays on the road…" Silence as the drone operator watched the black vehicle speed down. "…the van says… IMP on it, all capital letters… looks like a company logo." Everyone silently watched as it closed in on their position… and then went past them. The tension loosened. "We're clear. That wasn't what I was talkin' about, though."
Alpha slowly stood up, lowering his gun. "…why, what do you see?"
Gamma pointed at the screen. A tall structure, a pump on a swivel, slowly moving up and down. The ground around it was absolutely saturated in black, shimmery liquid, just below the surface. "That's an oil derrick."
This attracted the attention of even Delta. Everyone crouched down to look at the screen. Their eyes widened.
A staticky voice blared from their headsets. "Come on back. We've seen enough."
